Electrolux SuperJ / 1401 dirty, and etc.

[vap0rtranz]

My local consignment shop had a complete SuperJ / 1401 for $9. Previous owner had upgraded the hose, the dusting brush is worn, but otherwise it's all there. So I had to rescue it, plugged it in, vacuumed with the PN4 power nozzle, and on suction setting 6 it was tougher to push across my carpet Good! Now I'm already started taking it apart for servicing.

Are these machines always this dirty?!

See pics.

At first I thought the previous owner(s) had abused the machine by vacuuming soot! This dust is the dark grey stuff like from a smoker / grill. You can see in my pics how the interior of the canister is covered in it. Based on the "pop" and umpf I put into this machines screws, I doubt the motor was ever serviced, but thankfully the brushes were NOT completely worn down.

Reading up and watching Youtube, it seems the consensus is the extra LARGE brushes spit out more carbon dust than most machines ...

Lastly, the motor bearings aren't replaceable?

I can try packing them but I don't see a way to remove the rear bearing.

 

[vap0rtranz]

another thread answers

Another thread answered my bearing question. Gotta luv this forum & members!

Link to bearing thread below.

The front, riveted bearing replacement makes sense (drill apart & nut back together).

I'm not understanding the rear bearing replacement method ??


https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?30104_4

 

[human]

Average 45 years old...

vap0rtranz wrote:
Are these machines always this dirty?!

I reply:
When you consider the Super J's are now all 44-46 years old, it's not at all surprising they're a little dirty on the inside. Unless they've already been restored/reconditioned/refurbished, they're going to have almost half a century's worth of dirt and dust built up. The black deposit in the first photo is likely from the motor's carbon brushes. The rest was most likely sucked in through imperfect seals during myriad house cleanings over the decades. In all, it's really a testament to the quality of their construction. Few, if any, modern vacuum cleaners are likely to survive that long.

 

[suckolux]

I think also much of that dirt internally could be contributed to the extremely well priced replacement bags available everywhere with questionable filtering ability.

 

[bikerray]

The dark stuff on the outside of the bag chamber is carbon dust and YES that is normal.

The front bearing drill out the rivets, replace bearing, and put back together.

The rear bearing take off the cap, push out the old bearing, push in the new bearing, make sure there is oil on the felt around the bronze bearing, then put cap back on.

Pictures are of the Super J a friend gave me.

 

[huskyvacs]

The black dirt you see is aaaaaaaalllllllllll carbon dust from the motor. Compounded over...what...60 years worth of time? That is normal. This is why the HEPA filtration for the motor exhaust was developed and needed on vacuums, to capture that dust.

The brown dirt is just fine dust that got past the bag and bag chamber and collected on the motor.

 

[vap0rtranz]

@bikerray

OK, so the rear bearing is replaceable with usual pushing/pulling/tapping under the cap. Thx for confirming that. It looked completely inaccessible at 1st glance.

I've order 2 sealed replacement bearings. The current ones don't sound well.

@huskyvacs

Yea, the brown dust didn't worry me because it looked like normal household dust, just the black fine dust covering everything isn't anything I've seen before.

I'm thinking of making my own exhaust filter for the SuperJ just to keep the exhaust filter debate going, hehe

 

[bikerray]

The rear bearing is a bronze sintered sleeve. Here is a picture of it

 

[countryguy]

"vacuumed with the PN4 power nozzle, and on suction setting 6"

Just so you know...the dial settings from 1 to 6 are not for suction...they control at what point the machine will automatically shut off depending on the type of dirt being vacuumed. Setting 1 is used when vacuuing fine dust (which will clog the bag pores sooner and restrict airflow) and setting 6 is for coarse dirt. The higher the number the longer the delay before the machines automatically shuts off.

Gary

 

[mjhoshaw]

I'm no pro but I've replaced the rear sleeve bearing

. . . and it was no big deal. Since then I've come to realize that rarely does the rear sleeve bearing wear out. I replaced one in a model G motor years ago because I thought it should be worn out. In retrospect, it probably wasn't.  Much more recently when I took apart my model AE, the motor shaft still had a film of oil on it after more than 60 years! I cleaned the contact surface with an oil-soaked Q-tip until it came out clean, then squirted several measures of 20w non-detergent oil into the bearing cap, stopping before the felt wick wouldn't soak up any more. That AE motor is the sweetest-sounding of all my Elux motors.


 


Joel

 

[vap0rtranz]

Gary,

OK, so the dial is not adjusting suction but when the machine shuts down.

Is the dial setting perhaps in reverse from what you wrote for the 1970s machines?

I found the Jubilee owner's manual on Archive.org, and its manual says the reverse order: 1 for coarse, and 6 for fine. That's what my SuperJ's dial labels say as well.

@bikerray

Ty for the picture! I'd been looking for a ball type bearing to remove ... and would have never found such a bearing, hah!

Joel,

OK, I'll do the same and service the sleeve bearing with oil. The replacement ball bearing that I ordered is already shipped but it's standard size so it won't got to waste.

https://archive.org/details/electro...ion-manual-1974/page/n4/mode/1up?view=theater

 

[bikerray]

If you are rebuilding the motor the service manual for the Super J refers you to the service manual for the 1205 (sections 25 - 27).

If you have the armature out and don't want to take the cap off the back end you can put 5 to 10 drops of SAE 30 oil in the front opening of the bronze bearing (depending on how dry it is).

There should be a felt ring underneath the cap that holds oil for the bearing.

Most of the time there is still oil left in the bearing cup.

 

[countryguy]

Justin,

I was going from memory (which isn't so good these days LOL)...I could have had the fine/course terms reversed. The higher the setting number does however delay the shutting off of the motor however.

Gary

 

[vap0rtranz]

refurbing motors

@bikerray

Yes, I've got the canister motor and power nozzle motor apart for refurbing.

I don't have the service manual so thank you for sharing what it says about these sleeve bearings. I went ahead with 3-in-1 blue bottle oil because I didn't know about what you shared from the service manual and that's what was on hand.

Both motor's felt rings were dry as a bone! Maybe this machine never got serviced, or was serviced a very long time ago.

The PN4 has a printed sticker that was hand written with the date "1981". See pic. By 1981, wasn't the Olympia One being sold? Perhaps this sticker was the last service date, at least for the power nozzle.

Gary,

No worries! I can't remember where my glasses are sometimes

 

[bikerray]

It's only the felt ring that is under the cap at the back end of the motor that should have oil.

 

[beevac]

Super J Electrolux tank vacuum.

My late parents had a Super J . I had to replace the armature prematurely because a whole production run of armatures were poor workmanship. The new armature held up great & never shorted again. The insulation varnish used on the !st 1401 armatures was not for high amperage motors. The terminals on the electrical hose (machine end) broke off & my dad wouldn't buy a new hose ( he was partial to the straight suction attachment with the gleaner) so they utilized the rug nozzle side of the flip over tool. They didn't have very high pile carpeting anyway. I still have the user's manual for this machine. It has a very pretty gold cover. I have only a model G in my collection . Do any of you know of another Electrolux that I should own? The 1401 Super J has 80 " water lift.

 

[kirbyklekter]

For your collection...

I would consider a model "XXX" for historical interest. That model had the longest production run of any they produced. You already have a model "G" and a "super J" two of the more popular models collected. The model "1405" was a milestone model, that was the first of the new modern style. There are many models based on the 1405 that vary mostly by color and a few improvements.

Collectors have their own favorites often based on what they grew up with. I think the model "Hospital G" is another one to collect, though hard to find, it's the quietest model and has an interesting history. The model "LX" is very stylish in my opinion. You really can't go wrong with any of them. Comes down to personal choice!

 

[beevac]

to Kirbyklecter collectable Electrolux cleaners

Thank you so much for your suggestions . I first of all think that model 60 looks like sculpture especially on the suction end & the exhaust end. Tanyia Voight has this 1st automatic model in the original box nib. Maybe I should ask her to leave it to me. At the last Chicago area convention she had for sale a good running 30 complete with al the tools original gray hose that still worked, the companion tool rack etcetera. When I inquired afterwards she had sold it. Just the buffed aluminum needed cleaning. I talked with her this afternoon. She's doing well. Have you met her in person or online here?

 

[vap0rtranz]

2 motors

@bikerray

Understood. I'm talking about the cannister motor AND the power nozzle motor.

The power nozzle motor also has felt rings on these bronze bearings. Both sleeve bearings. I didn't remove these power nozzle felt rings because it looked much harder than the cannister's cap. In the cannister's motor, I found 1 bronze "sleeve" bearing like your pic, and a 608 stamped bearing in the front. The cannister's single felt ring was "dry as a bone".

So I've oiled the felt on: 3 sleeve bearings in total. Waiting on the post to deliver the replacement 608 for the cannister's front before I put the motors back together.

Writing this out takes longer than just pointing and saying a couple words in-person -- oh the joys of the Internet.